Free MOOC on Digital Tools; YALSA, ABA Name Top Books | News Bites

American College of Education is offering a free massive online open course (MOOC) on digital tools for the K–12 classroom from May 6 to June 9, 2013 for educators and other professionals who want to be well-versed in integrating web-based tools like Animoto, Glogster, Prezi, and many more in the classroom. Each week, the class will “explore different instructional methods and utilize emerging technology tools to develop presentations, posters, binders, stories, and scavenger hunts…[and] investigate the uses and good practices for both teacher-led and student-driven activities.”

The course will be taught by Dr. Catherine Dutton, Chair Digital Learning and Teaching, and Dr. Rebekah McPherson, Digital Learning and Teaching Faculty. Dutton previously taught high school in Texas and was the manager of instructional technology at Texas Women’s University. McPherson has a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction with a minor in educational computing.

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has announced the 2013 Teens’ Top Ten nominations. The books, all published in 2012, were selected by members of teen book clubs in 16 schools and public libraries across the country. The 28 nominations were posted on April 18, Support Teen Literature Day, during National Library Week. Readers ages 12 to 18 will be able to vote on their favorites between August 15 and September 15, 2013 at YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten site. The winners will be announced during Teen Read Week, October 13–19. Contenders include Crewel (Farrar) by Gennifer Albin, Of Poseidon (Feiwel & Friends) by Anna Banks, Underworld (Scholastic/Point) by Meg Cabot, and Bitterblue (Dial) by Kristin Cashore. Check out the YALSA website for the full list.

American Booksellers Association Announces Awards

The 2013 Indies Choice and E. B. White Read-Aloud Award winners in adult, young adult, middle readers, and picture book categories have been announced by the American Booksellers Association. The awards will be presented at a luncheon during BookExpo America.

The Indies Choice Young Adult Book of the Year award went to The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton) by John Green. Young Adult Honor Awards were given to Cinder (Feiwel & Friends) by Marissa Meyer, Colin Fischer (Penguin/Razorbill) by Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz, Every Day (Knopf) by David Levithan, Grave Mercy (Houghton Harcourt) by Robin LaFevers, and Seraphina (Random) by Rachel Hartman.

Wonder by R. J. Palacio won the E. B. White Read-Aloud Award for Middle Readers. Honor Awards in that category went to The False Prince (Scholastic) by Jennifer A. Nielsen, The Last Dragonslayer (Houghton Harcourt) by Jasper Fforde, The One and Only Ivan (HarperCollins) by Katherine Applegate, Same Sun Here (Candlewick) by Silas House and Neela Vaswani, and Three Times Lucky (Dial) by Sheila Turnage.

The E. B. White Award for Picture Books was given to Extra Yarn (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray) written by Max Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen. Picture Book Honors went to Creepy Carrots (S & S) by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown; Bear Has a Story to Tell (Roaring Brook) by Philip Stead, illustrated by Erin Stead; Oh, No! (Random/Schwartz & Wade) by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohmann; Too Tall Houses (Viking) by Gianna Marino; and Z Is for Moose (HarperCollins/Greenwillow) by Kelly Bingham, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky.

For the complete lists of winners in all categories, visit Bookselling This Week’s website.

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